Google Play is Google's new name for
what we used to know as the Android Market, where Android users went to buy and
download their mobile apps.
The problem for Google has been
the way this app distribution service has exploded alongside the mobile OS
itself, with the search giant adding movie rentals, books and (in the US at
least) a music service to its app shop, making it more of a supermarket than a
simple app listing service.
So, the decision was made to
rename the entire service from Android Market to the more generic sounding
Google Play, with the app itself changing its name to Play Shop on phones
across the world, thanks to a simultaneous update of the Android app.
So yes, your Android Market icon
and app has disappeared from your phone, and the web site now has a new name,
but it's OK - the Play Store is the same thing just with some fancy new logos
sprinkled about the place.
What's different about Google Play?
Very little has actually changed for users accessing
Google's digital shop through Android phones. The new icon, which changed its
name first to "Play Shop" and more recently to "Play Store"
is the main difference, which for users used to accessing the Android Market
for a few years is a quite a puzzling change to wake up to.
Also, where we used to have a simple videos tab hiding
the film rentals, those are now contained within the Google Play Movies
section, while the book shop now luxuriates under the name Google Play Books.
All your old content is still there, just with a new logo
above it all for some odd reason.
Google Play Syncing
Google says this new system should ensure "your
favourite music, books, movies, apps, and games are all in one place that's
accessible from the Web and any Android device" which is good, and very
useful, but also something that was possible before the rebranding effort.
All Google's doing here is emphasising the
"cloud" based nature of its Android experience, underlining the fact
you can buy a book on your phone and read it on the web-based Play Store, or
rent a movie through the site and have it sent to your phone. Nothing new, but
still impressively cool technology - and free to use. Apart from when you want
to buy stuff.
Google Play website
One of the things Google's also underlining with the
ditching of the Android Market name is that Google Play isn't just for Android
users any more. The web site's books and videos sections are fully functional
on a desktop and let users view content online, so if you're yet to upgrade to
a smartphone there's still some fun to be had buying and syncing books and
films across various laptops and desktops you hang around near.
And if you're really confused about your smartphone
orientation, there's even a Google Play Books app on iOS for a little bit of
cross-pollinating Apple action.
Google Play app
One thing that has changed is Google's Play app, which
has had a few new options added to it in a post-name-change update. There's now
an "All" tab within your downloaded apps page, which lists every
single app you've ever downloaded. Even the awful ones you then deleted after a
30 second fiddle two years ago.
The updated Google Play app also lets you sort user
reviews, while these reviews now show the particular model of Android phone
used by the reviewer - so if they're complaining an app doesn't work very well
on their T-Mobile Pulse, you know what the problem is.
Reviews can also be filtered to only display feedback
left by Android owners using the same phone as you, making it dead easy to sift
through the masses of nonsense to get to a useful opinion.
Google Play Music
The one disappointing thing for us here in the UK is that
Google's Music service still isn't accessible in this new Google Play world.
While Americans are happily uploading, buying and syncing their music
collections for cloud use, we're still stuck with using third-party options. Or
shuffling physical MP3s around on SD cards like savages.
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